The space that formerly housed Juanita's Mexican Food is now an expansive, bright and casually modern Italian eatery and drinkery.

Stripes of color reminiscent of those color bars in a television test pattern add design interest to the bar, making it the focal point of the restaurant. To amp up the posh factor, they've employed exposed brick, bare bulb lighting assemblages and even a stark white art wall installation that looks as if it could be a braille writing sample for visually impaired giants.

Even though Bacaro is only a few doors down, Pasta Vino in no way emulates its big sister; the two siblings are Italian restaurants cut from a different cloth.

If Bacaro is Venetian, Pasta Vino more closely approximates Milan. It's a pasta cafe where you'd go for a penne power lunch, or have a discussion over dolci, then head back to work with a birre buzz from finishing a Peroni Nastro Azzurro. At night, lights dim to soften the mood, and Pasta Vino lets its hair down and transforms into one of Boulder's sexier spots for a cocktail hour or nightcap.

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Pressed-for-time business types or those just out for a great noontime deal should try the lunch express. For a mere $12, you can mix and match a half-salad or cup of soup with a choice of pasta, panini or pizza. Portioning is large; choices are varied. To create your combo, you can pick from four pizza options, five paninis, six handmade pasta creations, two to three soups and five to six salads.

Hand-tossed pizzas -- in this case by Mario Hernandez Dominguez -- are among the offerings at Pasta Vino.
(Cliff Grassmick/Daily Camera)

With respect for the restaurant's name, my dining partner and I could not stray from ordering pasta to go with our vino, hence we ordered a pizza for an appetizer so as not to miss an opportunity for evaluation.

While sipping our wine, selected from an internationally inspired yet Italian focused list of almost two dozen choices by the glass, we poured puddles of high-quality olive oil onto bread plates. Perfecting our bread bath, we added droplets of aged balsamic from the cruet on the table, a dash of pepper and a few flakes of sea salt in anticipation of our selected loaf.

While Pasta Vino does offer three types of mini-loafs for your carb-mongering pleasure, it charges for bread but, if you'd rather not pay, provides packaged grissini totally gratis. I find paying for pane pretty preposterous but, nonetheless, threw down for a small slipper of rosemary-flecked ciabatta because I like to have more bread with my bread.

Not long after we had sopped up the last verdant globule of oil from my plate, our thin-crusted pizza arrived, its edges hanging generously over the confines of the plate.

Slightly browned tips of crisped dry Calabrese salami were texturally juxtaposed by soft, creamy hand-pulled fresh mozzarella. San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil and a drizzle of chili oil mix in the center, adding a juicy succulence to the wet pizza. Had the pizza not been sabotaged by a hefty over-helping of salt, it would have been difficult to stop ourselves from finishing the entire pie in order to leave room for the rest of our meal. But after attempting a second slice, the saltiness took its toll and we pushed aside the otherwise beautifully crafted pie.

The soup of the day suffered from a similar salty fate. A hefty half-portion of zuppa di cipolle, an orange-hued, pureed caramelized onion soup, smelled heavenly. Oh, how I wished you could de-salinate soup, as I'm certain this dish would have been superb had the chef restrained his sprinkling. My companion's Insalata di Barbabietole, a compilation of baby greens, roasted beets, turnips, cherry tomatoes, pecans and lemon tarragon vinaigrette satisfied with spring-fresh liveliness and also came overly apportioned.

Pasta plates were next, mine another over-sized helping of hand-formed Gnocchi al Pomodoro e Mozzarella. This simple preparation also might have been bellisimo, but by this point in the meal my tastebuds had become unreliable, shriveled and dehydrated and I was unable to discern much flavor. I can say the gnocchi texture was spot on, neither gummy nor gluey, just tender dumplings of gently mixed potato dough topped with a modest fresh tomato sauce with melted mozzarella and shards of fresh basil leaf. I'd passed a forkful over to my companion, who was having similar issue with her Fettucine alla Bolognese. From what we could distinguish, the hand-cut fettucine ribbons were cooked perfectly al dente. The tiny kink formed in the strands during folding lent a slight curl to the pasta tresses, thus adding another layer of texture. The Bolognese had a sweetness to it, as well as a well-balanced savory sensation -- all good qualities one would expect from a well-crafted pasta entree. But our tasters were tainted, much as when one sniffs too many perfumes at a time.

Relying on a sweet to counterbalance the salty, we ordered a dessert to share.

Our server's personality, so far about as flat as the thin crust pizza, improved slightly when we diplomatically informed him he'd brought us the wrong dessert. It was then that a smile crept across his face, if only for a millisecond.

We'd ordered the Crostata di Mele, a warm, caramelized apple tart with almond frangipane and caramel brittle. What we got was the Torta della Nonna, described on the menu as a "traditional 'grand mother' tart, filled with vanilla lemon custard, toasted pine nuts and chocolate sauce," a faux pas we were willing to digest. Rather than a puckery lemon curd-style filling, a vanilla-scented custard with a kiss of bright lemon filled the cookie-style tart shell. Toasted pine nuts graced the top, feathered ever so delicately with powdered sugar. Emulating a granny with arthritic fingers who finds long periods of stirring tiring and painful, the resulting pastry cream was a bit lumpy, though I simply viewed it as authentic.

Don't be fooled by the name. Pasta Vino's dinner menu includes other entrees, such as Bistecca di Manzo, an Italianized New York strip, and Branzino Acqua Pazza, a sea bass served with clams, cherry tomatoes and olives. More interesting pasta dishes shine, especially Sfogliata alle Capesante -- wide strip thin pasta with sea scallops, spinach, and mushrooms in a light cream lemon sauce. That's a Thursday pasta of the day at Pasta Vino, which offers a trinity of daily pasta specials.

Prices are reasonable, portions are generous, and if the chef can hold back on the salt, I'm reasonably certain I'll return to partake in other handmade Pasta Vino preparations.

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